Friends, acquaintances, comrades, and various sectors honored and paid tribute to five Red fighters in a program organized by progressive groups at the University of the Philippines (UP)-Cebu in Cebu City on May 24. The five were members of the New People’s Army (NPA)-Southwest Negros (Armando Sumayang Jr Command) who were martyred on May 16 in Barangay Abaca, Cauayan, Negros Occidental.

Among the five martyrs are Party front committee secretary Vince Francis Dingding (Ka Poy/Moymoy); NPA-Southwest Negros commanderRolando Dantes Jr (Ka Anyo); Jobert Casipong (Ka Robi), Gilbert Tingson (Ka Kolintong/Ka Downy), and Alex Languita (Ka Kaya). Dingding was a UP Cebu graduate with a BS Computer Science degree and a student leader while at the university.

Themed “#DINGPANGKARANIWAN: Paghandum sa Kinabuhi ug Pakigbisog sa Cauayan 5,” the tribute was led by the UP Cebu University Student Council (UPC USC), alumni, and other community members. They held a mass and launch a program with speeches and cultural performances. The gathering also read several of Dingding’s poems that showed his strong and firm dedication to serving the peasant masses and workers.

Among those who delivered a message was Myles Albasin, a former political prisoner and Dingding’s partner. She said Dingding was a force the world could not contain. “This is clear in the messages from every person who spoke today and in the posts appearing on social media. You were never ordinary, bai…” Albasin shared.

Recognition of the extraordinary

The NPA-Negros Island (Apolinario Gatmaitan Command) described the martyrdom of the five as heavier than Mt. Kanlaon. Together with the entire revolutionary movement on the island, it offered its highest salute to the five brave Red fighters who gave their lives for the cause of liberating the Negrosanon masses from severe exploitation and oppression. As tribute, the NPA-Negros Island recounted the roles carried out by the five martyrs.

Dingding, 30 years old, came from a lower petty-bourgeois family in Cebu City. He finished BS Computer Science at UP Cebu where he became a student leader and activist. He joined struggles for the democratic rights of student youth, integrated with poor communities, and embraced the national democratic struggle of the people.

In 2018, he left his job in a technology company and chose to join an NPA unit on the island of Negros. Two months after living with the Red army, Dingding decided to become a full-time fighter. According to the NPA-Negros Island, he built “deep and unbreakable ties with the masses,” especially peasants and youth.

He served as NPA political guide in 2018 and later became part of the army’s Regional Sentro de Grabidad (RSDG) leadership. As a Party member, he joined the front committee in 2018 because of his strength in ideological and political work. He later became front committee deputy secretary in Southeast Negros, and in 2025 became Party committee secretary in South Central Negros. He last served as front committee secretary in Southwest Negros.

Dantes Jr, 39 years old, was the NPA-Southwest Negros commander. He was born to a peasant family. He first joined a local cultural group where he became aware of social conditions. He became a Kabataang Makabayan (KM) member where he organized fellow youth using music and art. He later joined the NPA. He rose from leading a small team to serving as Red fighters’ platoon commander after two decades in the people’s army.

Casipong, the youngest at 23 years old, became an NPA member in 2021. He served as a squad medical officer and at times as team leader. He took a break from service in 2023 because of the physical and psychological toll of the AFP’s intense attacks. In civilian life, he was targeted by fascist AFP attacks and pressured to surrender. Refusing to betray the revolutionary movement, Casipong returned to the path of armed struggle.

Tingson came from a rich peasant class. From his relatively higher living conditions, he witnessed the oppression suffered by the poor and chose to join the people’s army. He first served as a member of a local militia unit and during that time was captured by fascist forces. After his release, he immediately became a full-time NPA member. In the people’s army, he handled finance and logistics work in the unit and later led a team of Red fighters. He also became part of a specialized unit for explosives and demolition work against the enemy.

Languita, 25 years old, came from Sta. Catalina, Negros Oriental. His peasant father became a victim of the fascist government armed forces’ Synchronized Enhanced Managing of Police Operations (SEMPO), or Oplan Sauron, in March 2019. In the NPA he saw the path to achieving justice for his father and others killed by the military. He served as a team leader in the NPA-Southwest Negros.

The NPA-Negros Island pledged to strive for justice for the five martyred Red fighters and to continue their cause. “The complete victory of our people’s war depends on the collective strength of Red fighters who carry the same revolutionary fervor and unyielding spirit of our martyrs,” regional command spokesperson Ka Maoche Legislador said.